NEW YORK — Jayson Tatum had 24 points and 14 rebounds, and the Boston Celtics withstood his careless foul with 1.9 seconds left Saturday night to beat the New York Knicks, 103-101.

Tatum had just given the Celtics a three-point lead with two free throws with 7.9 seconds left, and the Knicks called their final timeout. They had trouble getting the ball inbounded from the sideline, and Knicks guard Trey Burke had to race into the backcourt to retrieve it as the clock ran down. He pulled up for a 3-pointer from well beyond the arc and Tatum jumped to contest it, fouling Burke for three free throws that could have tied it.

But Burke missed the first and the Knicks couldn’t grab the rebound when he intentionally missed the third.

Kyrie Irving and Marcus Morris each added 16 points for the Celtics, who rebounded from their Friday night loss in Toronto. They won despite giving Gordon Hayward a night off to rest his surgically repaired left ankle.

Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 24 points for the Knicks, who lost rookie Kevin Knox to a sprained left ankle in the first quarter. Enes Kanter had 17 points and 15 rebounds before fouling out of their second two-point loss in two nights.

The Celtics are considered one of the Eastern Conference favorites, but Coach Brad Stevens said the Raptors were clearly better now and Boston needed to improve after Toronto’s 113-101 victory Friday night.

Advertisement

On Saturday night, they were just good enough to beat the rebuilding Knicks.

The Celtics looked sharp early in racing to a 26-10 lead and still had a double-digit cushion midway through the second quarter before Damyean Dotson’s second straight 3-pointer trimmed it to 50-48 by halftime.

PACERS 132, NETS 112: Victor Oladipo had 25 points and seven rebounds to lead Indiana at Indianapolis.

RAPTORS 117, WIZARDS 113: Taking over with Kawhi Leonard getting a night off, Kyle Lowry delivered 28 points and 12 assists to help Toronto improve to 3-0 with a win at Washington.

76ERS 116, MAGIC 115: JJ Redick hit a 3-pointer with 17 seconds left to lift Philadelphia to a win at home.

Redick had his best game since moving to Philadelphia’s bench at the start of the season.

NOTES

GRIZZLIES: Forward JaMychal Green underwent surgery after breaking his jaw Friday night during a victory against Atlanta.


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.